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"DeMarco and Lister are very well known for
their classic, Peopleware, which should be
mandatory reading for software managers, project
managers, product marketing managers—in fact,
anyone involved in the decision-making process for
funding software projects. It's just as pithy
and to the point as Peopleware, and well
worth the investment of a few hours of time. When
you're done reading it, you'll probably be tempted
to buy a few more copies to give to coworkers.
"Everyone who has ever worked on a software
project that went over schedule will recognize his
or her organization somewhere in this book. If you're
a project manager, you probably won't want to use
all the techniques in this book immediately. However,
maybe you will make your team start doing some risk
mitigation up front and calculating return on investment
while planning the next project. This alone will
dramatically reduce your odds of ending up with
a death march project. Your managers will thank
you for that. And so will your team!"
—Beth Benoit
The
Rational Edge
". . . the process of risk management is discussed
in a manner that should allow every software project
manager to understand what is needed to perform
the tasks necessary to properly manage risks on
a given project.
"Waltzing with Bears is an excellent
book that provides the reader with details on the
process for identifying and managing risks. This
is a book that every project manager should read
and use on every project. Whether you've managed
projects for years or are a newcomer to project
management, Waltzing with Bears should be
part of your software project library."
—Bryan
Bost
StickyMinds.com
"In their latest effort, Waltzing
with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects,
DeMarco and Lister look at the role of risk
in software development, concluding that it is at
least as important a factor in project success as
are software development processes. It is a good
read: food for thought that may sate the application
development manager in the long night of a Death
March project.
"Their writings on risk are timely,
as firms arise from the dark cave of risk aversion.
. . . In days when risk avoidance and cost cutting
seem the only recipes offered for technologists,
their words come as something of a tonic."
"Waltzing with Bears (its name
taken from a Dr. Seuss song) is worth a read by
workers at any stage of the software chain."
—Jack Vaughan
Application
Development Trends
"I liked this book. It caused me to re-examine
the way I budget software as well as other deeper assumptions about what I 'choose
to believe' or rather why I choose to believe it. If you get a chance to
read the book you will probably come to the same conclusion, 'Wow, I never thought
about things that way and I really think I should!'" —Will
Tracz
ACM Software Engineering Notes
"When Tom DeMarco speaks, the IS community
listens. . . .
"The book is a brilliant tour de force.
In summary, it shows IS managers how to quantify
risk (even when there are few pieces of data) and
use these quantifications to set reasonable schedules.
It describes the pathologies that occur in companies
and how to deal with at least some of them. Most
importantly, it teaches managers what to do. It
is a book that should be on your bookshelf and pulled
out whenever you appoint a new project leader or
schedule a new project."
—Paul
Gray
Information Systems Management
"There is a
great deal of useful advice in this little book. The authors also provide practical
techniques for implementing their ideas. If you have anything to do with software,
you really need the information in this book." —Richard
Mateosian
IEEE Micro
"Advice projects must not ignore (but often
do) . . . A must for the project manager (and his
or her boss).
"DeMarco and Lister's examples and anecdotes
are both entertaining and persuasive."
—Conrad
Weisert
Idinews.com
"A hard-hitting guide to braving greater risks
for greater rewards in the exciting, challenging,
competitive, and rapidly advancing field of software
development. . . . a very savvy guide."
—Midwest Book Review
"A must for software development managers.
"Chapter 14 puts forward a process for discovering
risk, which is excellent and in the realm of 'how
to learn what it is that you don't know.' It is
this approach that will separate those who succeed
from those who must resort to faking success.
"The software project without risk is so dull
and uninteresting that no one with any talent would
go near it. So, if you have talent, gear up by buying
this book and plunge forward to take on the enomrmous
challenge of making software that matters to the
world."
—Charles
Ashbacher
posted on Amazon.com
"DeMarco and Lister
do a good, lively, commonsense job of presenting their subject. If committing
to do risk management means committing to read something about it, then this book
would be an excellent starting place." —Robert
L. Glass
The Software Practitioner
"Reading Tom Demarco and Tim Lister is a pleasure.
It is so clear that these two authors set out to
teach something they believe to be valuable, and
all of their effort is directed toward making that
valuable thesis accessible to the reader. . . .
Their explanations are always clear. Their examples
are invariably both helpful and entertaining.
"What they have to say is always important.
Waltzing with Bears is no exception . . .
their arguments will force you to think about critical
aspects of management that you may not have previously
considered. . . .
"It's a terrific book."
—Justin
Kodner
posted on Amazon.com
"The
authors, consultants in risk and management, show how to identify and embrace
worthwhile risks in software development and offer strategies for common risks
that software projects face, such as schedule flaws, requirements inflation, and
specification breakdown." —Book News, Inc.
"For anyone who's work life consists of leading and
managing projects - technical or non-technical, it doesn't matter—Waltzing
with Bears is best read slowly and thoughtfully at home over a weekend, then
brought to work and kept within easy reach—you'll want it right there
come Monday morning! Laser-accurate insight, philosophically and experientially
grounded, hard truths encapsulated in good humor—this book has it all! (Why
would we expect less from these guys!) What I adore about DeMarco and Lister's
latest effort is that it is rock-solid methodology delivered, as always, in some
of the deftest, most readable prose around. Great management best practice and
a good read to boot. Holy Smokes!" —Bruce Taylor
posted on Amazon.com
"Super book on the critical subject
of risk management.
"What an excellent book, but
then what would one expect from Tom DeMarco and
Tim Lister, and Dorset House? As well as being an
excellent introduction to an extremely vital subject
in this day and age, Waltzing with Bears
provides some practical tips not only on how to
do Risk Management, but also regarding how to overcome
some of the factors in corporate culture that actively
or passively suppress the application of Risk Management
(e.g., the 'can-do'
attitude). . . .
"Having spent several years in
QA and Process Engineering supporting Risk Management,
I can only say that I wish I'd had this book several
years ago. But I have it now, and am better prepared
for future efforts."
—Rodger
Drabick
posted on Amazon.com
"It is a rare pleasure to find
a book that exactly articulates something you have
always known but never recognized. This is such
a book. . . .
"Their ideas are (and have always
been) essential for any project to succeed."
—David
Hay
posted on Amazon.com
"The seminal work
on managing software project risk. . . . Explosive insights, practical advice.
Finally we have a guide to risk management that we can implement and use."
—Rob Austin
Professor, Harvard Business School
"destined to become the Bible for serious
IT professionals and project managers.
"Buy a copy of this book for everyone on your
project team, and for every manager and stakeholder
who has any influence on your project. . . . I've
ordered 20 copies for my best clients.
"Pearls of wisdom like 'It's okay to be wrong,
but not okay to be uncertain' are, by themselves,
worth the price of this book—for they remind
us of how childishly unrealistic our risk management
culture really is."
—Edward Yourdon
Consultant and
Author
www.yourdon.com
"The
authors provide a fresh approach to risk management." —Ralph
Young
Software Quality Professional
"A
good introduction to statistical risk analysis written accessibly and humorously." —CIO
Magazine
"Bold, provocative yet coolly pragmatic. . . ." —Michael
Schrage
Co-Director MIT Media Lab's e-Markets Initiative
Author of
Serious Play
"This interesting little book addresses
the important and little-covered (at least, in practical books for industry) topic
of managing risk. It is more or less an axiom among requirements people that the
main reason for writing requirements is to reduce risk; of course the same justification
is given by systems people for the whole systems engineering enterprise. Can everyone
be right? "The book wins the prize for most engaging business
book cover and title. Any manager who doesn't think that managing risk on software
projects is essential should read this book at once."
—Ian Alexander
http://i.f.alexander.users.btopenworld.com
"Significant software development
is all about taking and managing risks, and in the
book, Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk On Software
Projects, by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
and published by Dorset House, the risks are catalogued
and quantified. This is about making calculated
gambles and keeping yourself and the project under
control as it moves from the original idea to completion,
and their mantra is, "If there is no risk in
your next project, then don't do it." They
also describe their free risk assessment tool, RISKOLOGY,
which will help you organize and describe the risks
unique to your project. Buy a copy and give it to
your manager as a gift, even if you have to give
it to yourself."
—Charles Ashbacher
Journal of Object Technology
"I enjoyed [DeMarco & Lister's]
informal, easy-to-read style and generally felt
this book provides a good lens through which to
view risk management. . . .
"I would recommend reading the
entire text. If you only have a passing interest
in risk management, this book will at least give
you some key ideas for dealing with risk."
—Ian Adare
PMI-CTT Newsletter
"Remember that old jingle, 'I'd
like to buy the world a Coke?' Well I'd like to
buy the world an heirloom box set of Waltzing
with Bears and Lister and DeMarco's other masterpiece,
Peopleware. These slender volumes both put
the torch to all the familiar idiocies taking place
every day in software project management the world
over. Warning: exposure to such high levels of sense
and refreshing sanity may result in a desire to
quit your job and start your own company."
—Zach Thomas
Aeroplane
Software
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